CRICKET
Narine under suspicion
West Indian spinner Sunil Narine has again been reported for a suspect bowling action, the latest being at the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) competition in the United Arab Emirates. The off-spinner, whose career has been blighted by the issue, was reported twice during the Champions League Twenty20 in 2014 and twice more the following year. “Sunil Narine has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during match between Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators at Sharjah,” PSL organizers said in on Twitter. “Narine has now been placed on the warning list and may continue to be selected to play and bowl for his team.”
RUNNING
Champions win tower race
The Eiffel Tower was transformed into a sparkling vertical racecourse on Thursday night, as athletes dashed to the top of the iconic Paris monument in an annual race. Puffing, yet in good spirits, 129 runners from five continents made their way, one-by-one, up 1,665 steps to see who could reach the apex of the 324m structure in the fastest time. Piotr Lobodzinski of Poland, who has been the men’s champion since the vertical race first began in 2015, successfully defended his title, reaching the tower’s summit in 7 minutes, 56.67 seconds. In the women’s category, Suzy Walsham of Australia also gained her fourth victory, getting to the top in 10 minutes, 2.7 seconds.
SOCCER
West Ham security beefed up
Extra police are to be employed at West Ham United’s next home game following crowd trouble at their last Premier League match, London Stadium’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) announced on Thursday following an emergency meeting. Four pitch invasions marred West Ham’s 3-0 home defeat by Burnley on Saturday and the SAG warned that future trouble could lead to ground closures. “Following reassurances that have been given, it is the SAG’s view that the council does not need to use the ultimate sanction, which would see capacity reduced at the venue and spectators excluded. The remaining homes games will be closely monitored,” the SAG said in a statement. “The SAG must make clear that in the event of future disorder, it would seriously consider advising the certifying authority to take forward this sanction.” West Ham’s co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold had to leave the directors’ box for their own safety and the club are seeking life bans for the supporters who ran on to the pitch.
MOTOR SPORTS
Bee attack hospitalizes Foyt
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt was briefly hospitalized on Wednesday after an attack of Africanized killer bees he encountered while working on his ranch. The attack was the second time the 83-year-old has disturbed beehives while working on his bulldozer. He sustained more than 200 stings to his head alone in a 2005 bee attack. A.J. Foyt Enterprises said in a statement that Foyt was released from a Texas hospital once he was stabilized. The team said this second bee attack was more serious than the first because the first encounter made Foyt more sensitive to bee stings. Foyt is to miss this weekend’s Twelve Hours of Sebring in Florida. He was scheduled to be inducted into Sebring’s Hall of Fame yesterday.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was